EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY

Sample Le er

1. Use your personal or business address

[DATE] [ADDRESS]

2. Address your legislator properly

The Honorable [REPRESENTATIVE'S FIRST NAME, LAST NAME] U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

3. State your rela onship to the legislator

Dear Representative [LAST NAME]:

I am writing to you as a constituent and a psychologist/graduate student regarding the Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program, which is funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration and administered through the Bureau of Health Workforce. I am writing to urge your support for an $8.9 million FY 2015 appropriation for the GPE Program, the nation's only federal program dedicated solely to the education and training of doctorallevel psychologists.

4. Concentrate on a single issue

5. Be factual 7. Be personal 9. Request a response

The GPE Program provides funds to accredited universities and internship sites through a competitive grant process to support the interprofessional training of psychologists who work with underserved populations (e.g. older adults, children, rural persons, individuals with chronic illness, victims of abuse and trauma, veterans and their families). This funding supports the training of graduate psychology students to provide services to communities (rural and urban), who have little or no access to mental and behavioral health services.

For example, in our local community GPE funding is making a signi icant difference for older adults, who constitute 13% of our state's population. Through the GPE Program, psychology graduate students provide supervised mental and behavioral services to the elderly in hospital clinics, nursing homes, and homeless shelters. This unique grant program is, in fact, enabling critically needed primary care services to be delivered to underserved populations all across the country.

I urge you to support the Graduate Psychology Education Program, which bene its so many underserved people, especially those in rural communities. If you or your staff would like additional information regarding this grant or the GPE Program, please contact me directly. I look forward to keeping you informed about our progress and working with your of ice in the future.

6. Give jus fica on

8. Be specific about what you want

10. Include your tle

Sincerely, [NAME/TITLE/INSTITUTION]

11. Keep your le er to one page

20

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY

1. Use your personal or business address

[DATE]

Jane Q. Psychologist, Ph.D. Psychology Department Hometown University Hometown, State 12345

Sample Le er

2. Address your legislator properly

The Honorable [SENATOR'S FIRST NAME, LAST NAME] U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator [LAST NAME]:

3. State your rela onship to the legislator

6. Be factual

8. Be personal 9. Request a response

As a constituent and a psychologist/graduate student, I am writing to urge you to cosponsor The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (the "FAMILY Act"). This legislation would provide workers with partial income when they take time off work to care for their own or a family member's serious medical condition, or for maternity leave following the birth or adoption of a child.

The FAMILY Act provides an inexpensive, common sense structure for funding paid leave to support families in caring for one another. Three states (California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island) have already passed laws to provide paid family medical leave, and most other developed nations throughout the world offer some form of paid leave. The inancial cost of family caretaking places economic hardship on many families. These laws work well and it's time for the United States to catch up!

I urge you to become a cosponsor of the FAMILY Act. In doing so, you will demonstrate your commitment to the lives and health of our nation's families. Please let me know if you or your staff would like any additional information on this important legislation, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

4. Concentrate on a single issue

5. Give jus fica on

7. Be specific about what you want

Sincerely,

10. Include your tle

Jane Q. Psychologist, Ph.D. Professor

11. Keep your le er to one page

21

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